Covering screen top for humidity question

[Mochelem]

I have 3 20 gal (long tanks) I have a normal female about 28 in long in one. A year old 100% het albino male in another. And come tuesday i will have 3 reduced pattern female babies in another (they are only going to live together until i can get a rack)....

My temps are good but my humidity is low, I was reading in the sticky up top about setting up a glass tank, I have screen covers like this

http://pet.imageg.net/graphics/produ...-3765582dt.jpg

I was thinking of covering it vinyl, but i have a few questions

1. whats a good way to secure the vinyl to the screen, or maybe theres somthing easier to cover it with.

2. how much of the lid should be covered?

3. How do you set up a CHE without melting the vinyl, the sticky above says you can use plexi glass but I still dont understand how to set it up without melting the plexi glass...



Also one more thing, I dont have a large selection of hides where Im at and Im having problems find decent sized one for my bigger snake. Does anyone have a link to some good hides online or know hoe to make a good one?

[frankykeno]

You can just easily cover it with Glad Press n Seal. That should hold in your himidity well and you can just keep it well back from any overhead heat source. You'll want some of the mesh lid uncovered anyways to allow for proper ventilation.

With that sort of lid you'll also want to buy some lid clamps. Most any pet store sells them right near those lid. Usually there's 2 per pack and they are rated by size of the tank they are to be used on. Generally they run less than $3.00 a package and are well worth it. On the 20 L our milksnake lives in I use 4 lid clamps.

As far as hides you can easily make some with things found at any dollar store and either a sharp exacto knife to cut in an entrance or a soldering wand to melt in one (always check the entrance is left smooth and the the inside of any hide doesn't have burrs left there from production).

Hides should be barely bigger than the snake coiled up...think very squishy. Hides should be dark in color and also easy to clean (yes snakes use their hides as a toilet and scraping off dried feces and urates loses it's charm pretty fast when you can't easily soak a hide to loosen them). A small dark plastic kitty litter pan makes an excellent hide for a larger BP. A dark plastic cereal or dessert bowl makes a nice one for a smaller BP.

Here's some examples....

Large, black rubber dog dish from the local farmer supply store - costs about $6.00 and lasts forever - good for snakes up to around 1,200 grams or so.....



Happy BP in the same type of hide as pictured above (see what I mean about being squished in there, this snake has oodles of room to still grown into this hide and be comfortable)....



Young BP in it's blue plastic hide. These are smaller than a cereal bowl and are 3 for a buck at the dollar store.....

[Sonya610]

I think a lot of people find that foil works well, and you don't have to worry about it melting or catching on fire.

[frankykeno]

If you use tinfoil, make sure and place it shiney side down so it better reflects rising heat back down into the enclosure.